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Beginning May 5, Google Checkout's fees will transition to a new tiered fee structure based upon a merchant's monthly sales processed through Checkout. While this new fee schedule appears to be similar to PayPal, Google's transaction processing rate will vary each month based on your prior months sales volume. The new pricing plan will also eliminate the credit for Google AdWords advertising, discontinuing the processing promotion that was part of the original fee structure for Google Checkout. Fees apply the same for Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover payments. There are no monthly, setup, or gateway fees. However, for cross-border transactions, there will be an additional 1% fee assessed per transaction. To learn more about … more

Merchant Cash Advance proposes to lend money to merchants based on their credit card receivables. However these lending options are very expensive. Is peer-to-peer (P2P) lending an alternative to merchant cash advance?

Companies, such as Lending Club, Prosper, and Loanio, are connecting people who need money with those who wish to lend it. Utilizing P2P lending, borrowers can access the money at a lower interest rate than they would if they used even more traditional bank lines or a credit card. At the same time, individuals who have money to invest get better returns than either the stock market or any bank savings are delivering today.

P2P lending may be worth researching for merchants considering a merchant cash advance program. more

In a new global ad campaign, Visa changes focus to the advantages of plastic over paper cash and checks. Consumer perceptions of credit card brands has been trending negatively because credit limits have been reduced and cards are being canceled. The new campaign is designed to play up the security, control and convenience of using a Visa cards. Visa launched Visa.com/go and Visa.com/goresponsibly as part of the campaing. more